THOSE PESKY BALLOT QUESTIONS EXPLAINED ON BOTH SIDES OF STATE LINE From cigarette taxes to changing the way we select our judges. From health insurance exchanges in Missouri to the taxing of boats in Kansas. These are those “other” decisions you’ll be asked to make when you head to the ballot box on Tuesday. We sort through these pesky, wordy ballot questions on this pre-election edition of the program.

TOBACCO TAX: Currently Missouri has the lowest tobacco tax in the nation. Proposition B would raise the state tax on a pack of cigarettes from 17 cents to 90 cents. The proposal is projected to generate between $283 million and $423 million annually. But where would the money go?

POLICE: Some of our viewers may be confused as to why we started with Proposition B. Is there a “Proposition A?” Well there is…and the reason we’re not starting our program discussing it, is because its sure to be confusing to many Kansas City area voters. Prop A asks whether the city of St. Louis should have local control over its police force? Currently, it is one of just two cities in the country along with Kansas City to be overseen by a state appointed panel. Why should people in metro KC care about this issue and how could their vote on this question affect them in the future?

KANSAS BALLOT: While Kansans won’t be voting for any U-S Senators, a Governor or any big state officeholders, did you know you do have a statewide ballot issue to decide involving the taxing of boats? OK, it’s not the biggest issue in the world, but you may be left scratching your head when you walk into your local polling station Tuesday and see this massive one page ballot question on the taxation of watercraft in the Sunflower state. Should your neighbor with the speedboat of fishing boat get a tax break? What’s at stake?

HEALTHCARE DEBATE: As President Obama and Mitt Romney have battled over the Affordable Care Act, you may not be aware that if you live in Missouri, you will be deciding the issue of healthcare on the ballot Tuesday. If approved by you, Proposition E would block the governor or any Missouri agency from creating a state health exchange without approval from voters or the legislature. What are the pros and cons of Prop E?

JUDGES: If you live in Missouri, you’ll also be asked to decide at the ballot box on Tuesday whether or not to change the system of picking higher court judges in Missouri. Missouri Constitutional Amendment 3 would give the governor more authority over the nomination process for Court of Appeals and Supreme Court judges in the state.

MISSOURI STATEWIDE OFFICES: The race for the U-S Senate seat in Missouri has robbed attention from most of the other statewide campaigns in Missouri. We don’t leave you in the lurch. We try to make sense of the candidates running for those other statewide offices, we’re told are important, but have thus far been starved of media time. State Treasurer, anyone? What about Secretary of State?